Posted on 06/07/2023 11:08:54 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Caesarea is the largest Roman ruin in Israel today. It was built by Herod The Great, an ambitious puppet of the Romans, who was appointed the king of Judea by Rome. This city had a huge chariot race track, a theatre, aqueducts, and an artificial harbor that's underwater today. This harbor was built by Herod in order to create for himself an international city with direct links to Rome. This virtual tour and documentary explores the history of this fascinating place, from its founding by Herod, its use as a Roman provincial capital, the harbor's role in the war between the Romans and the Jews, the spread of Christianity out of this port, and the harbor's demise by a natural disaster that happened hundreds of kilometers away.
Israel's Most Impressive Roman Ruin | 13:59
Street Gems Travels | 749 subscribers | 54,411 views | May 17, 2023
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Transcript 0:00 · [Music] 0:02 · on the shores of modern day Israel 0:06 · [Music] 0:09 · lies the ruin a caesarea 0:12 · this Roman city was positioned 0:15 · dramatically on the wavy Coastline it 0:17 · had a massive Chariot racetrack 0:19 · [Music] 0:22 · eater 0:26 · bath houses and markets 0:31 · cut into the Raw oh 0:34 · aqueduct 0:36 · spring water 0:37 · from miles away 0:41 · and it's Crown Jewel 0:45 · an artificially constructed Harbor 0:49 · a Marvel of ancient engineering 0:57 · caesarea is located halfway between Tel 0:59 · Aviv and Haifa on a long straight 1:01 · Coastline with very few natural Bays the 1:03 · city was built by Herod the Great a 1:06 · local ruler but a puppet of the Romans 1:08 · who made him King of Judea in 40 BC 1:12 · in the decades leading up to the year 1:14 · zero Judea was technically not a Roman 1:17 · province yet but a clan Kingdom meaning 1:20 · that it was autonomous for its Internal 1:21 · Affairs that had to serve the 1:23 · geopolitical interests of Rome 1:25 · [Music] 1:26 · Herod was their yes man as he owed them 1:29 · his power 1:30 · settled to build a Monumental City Roman 1:33 · style in order to demonstrate his 1:35 · loyalty to Rome he dedicated his City to 1:38 · Augustus whose official title was Caesar 1:40 · Augustus 1:41 · [Music] 1:42 · and so the city was named caesarea 1:46 · Herod was an Edomite from the tribovate 1:49 · Doma which converted to Judaism a 1:51 · century before but the Jews did not 1:53 · consider him a true Jew and definitely 1:55 · not their legitimate King 1:57 · he was also very hellenized meaning that 1:59 · he subscribed to Greco-Roman values just 2:01 · like you should subscribe to my channel 2:03 · if you like this type of content this 2:05 · hellenized city did not look east of 2:07 · Jerusalem as its guiding star but West 2:09 · towards Rome Herod clearly looked up to 2:12 · the Romans and wanted to impress them 2:16 · so much so that he outdid them 2:19 · and had the audacity to build the 2:21 · largest artificial Harbor in the Roman 2:23 · World directly in the open sea and he 2:26 · did this in an unfavorable terrain that 2:28 · long and unprotected Coastline that's 2:30 · exposed to wind waves and shifting Sands 2:33 · which would have made construction extra 2:35 · difficult 2:36 · these modern Harbor Jetties that you're 2:37 · looking at are only a third of the size 2:39 · of the ancient ones but they sit on its 2:41 · foundations 2:43 · the satellite image clearly shows the 2:45 · massive ancient yetis crumbled and 2:47 · submerged below the water 2:49 · they would have looked like this more or 2:51 · less as they crumbled into the sea over 2:53 · time the debris spread out of the sea 2:55 · floor and now sits five meters below the 2:58 · surface 2:59 · [Music] 3:01 · but when they were still operational 3:03 · they formed a huge engine Port that 3:05 · could Harbor many large ships 3:07 · [Music] 3:08 · to give you a better idea of how big it 3:11 · was a modern aircraft carrier of the U.S 3:13 · Navy which is 1100 feet long or 335 3:17 · meters would be this big inside the 3:19 · harbor this comparison is measured 3:21 · accurately to scale 3:23 · foreign 3:26 · but will be kind of useless if it 3:28 · couldn't get out 3:30 · King Herod undertook many other 3:32 · impressive Mega projects in Judea 3:35 · including the herodium which was a 3:38 · palace and fortress on top of an 3:39 · artificial Mountain 3:41 · talk about a mega project 3:43 · the infamous Masada where he built 3:46 · another massive Palace which later 3:48 · became the last standoff in the war 3:50 · between the Jews and the Romans 3:53 · Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron which 3:55 · is the site where Abraham Isaac and 3:57 · Jacob are buried along with their wives 4:00 · and he also upgraded the Jewish temple 4:02 · in Jerusalem and built these huge 4:04 · retaining walls around the Temple Mount 4:05 · which enlarged the plaza around it and a 4:09 · massive Fortress to protect it 4:11 · today's Western Wall is a piece of that 4:14 · herodian retaining wall because the Jews 4:16 · despised him he built the religious 4:18 · sites in order to win favor with them so 4:20 · it can be said that he didn't do 4:21 · anything for them as these buildings 4:23 · still are incredibly important to the 4:25 · Jewish faith and identity today 4:27 · for the purposes of preserving his own 4:29 · power and is linked to Rome the Harvard 4:31 · caesarea was his greatest asset 4:35 · sea travel was the fastest form of 4:37 · travel 4:38 · so having a solid Harbor on that 4:40 · Coastline gave him fast communication 4:41 · with Rome across the Mediterranean which 4:44 · was the highway linking all the 4:45 · important cities of the empire 4:47 · caesarea was now Port City and it was 4:49 · its harbor that put it on the map giving 4:50 · it access to that well-developed trade 4:52 · Network 4:54 · it took him seven years to build the two 4:57 · Jetties which is impressive for 2000 4:59 · years ago considering how difficult it 5:01 · was to build in the open sea first he 5:04 · needed to build underwater concrete 5:05 · foundations to make Roman concrete a key 5:08 · ingredient was put Solana a special 5:10 · volcanic ash that was sourced from the 5:11 · town of puts Wally in the Bay of Naples 5:15 · this is the Roman Amphitheater of 5:17 · patwali the rest of the ancient cities 5:19 · covered up by the modern one 5:21 · the volcanic ash Source from this town 5:22 · was the secret to Roman concrete when it 5:25 · was mixed with the other ingredients and 5:26 · came into contact with water it would 5:28 · Harden into a very strong and durable 5:30 · material 5:32 · could even solidify in the water what's 5:34 · known as hydraulic concrete 5:36 · archaeologists speculate the herod's men 5:38 · constructed these wooden molds with 5:39 · double walls which were floated into 5:41 · position when the molds were above the 5:43 · right spot they filled the double walls 5:45 · with mortar to make them sink to the 5:47 · Sandy floor 5:49 · then it would pour the liquid concrete 5:50 · into the rest of the molds where it 5:52 · would settle and Harden underwater 5:54 · they also estimate the hair needed to 5:56 · import 50 000 tons of the spots on ash 5:58 · in up to 150 ship loads all the way back 6:01 · to caesarea 6:03 · this shows how interconnected the Roman 6:05 · world was where specific materials 6:07 · needed in one place were sourced from 6:09 · another thousands of kilometers away 6:11 · true example of ancient globalization 6:15 · it also demonstrates when an immense 6:17 · budget haired had at his disposal for 6:19 · just a small King 6:21 · put in immense strain in taxpayer known 6:23 · as people and only increase their 6:24 · frustration towards him as a king who 6:27 · doesn't truly look out for them but is 6:28 · more concerned about preserving his own 6:30 · power and his relationship with Rome 6:33 · monuments like this Hippodrome in 6:35 · theater which are ultimately built for 6:36 · fun and entertainment must have been a 6:38 · particular sore spot for the Jews 6:40 · especially because the games held in 6:42 · them were a Roman custom not a Jewish 6:44 · one 6:45 · but Herod was able to hold on to his 6:47 · power until 4 BC when he fell ill and 6:51 · died 6:55 · the years that followed were marked by 6:57 · turmoil and unrest until 6 A.D when 7:00 · Judea was annexed as an official Roman 7:02 · province so that Rome could have more 7:04 · direct control over it 7:07 · caesarea then replaced Jerusalem as the 7:09 · official capital of Judea being more 7:11 · strategically connected to Rome and 7:13 · simply for being a new Roman style town 7:15 · unlike Jerusalem which was an 7:17 · established Jewish City already ancient 7:19 · by those days 7:21 · as a Roman provincial capital caesarea 7:24 · became a large and bustling Cosmopolitan 7:26 · city with a mixed population of Romans 7:28 · Greeks Jews and other cultures from 7:30 · around the Mediterranean while Jerusalem 7:33 · was the spiritual heart of Judea 7:34 · caesarea was the city of business and 7:37 · commerce with the outside world 7:38 · it was in the perfect position to 7:40 · receive direct orders from Rome then 7:42 · Implement them into the hinterland and 7:44 · was the Roman headquarters at which 7:45 · Pontius Pilate governed the governor of 7:47 · Judea who gave the order to crucify 7:49 · Jesus 7:50 · interestingly in 1961 a limestone block 7:53 · mentioning pilot was discovered at 7:54 · caesarea providing the only 7:56 · archaeological evidence for his 7:58 · existence 8:02 · all other mentions of him are literary 8:04 · including the New Testament and a few 8:07 · contemporary historians like Josephus 8:09 · who documented the war between the 8:11 · Romans and the Jews that was sparked 8:12 · here in caesarea in 66 A.D 8:16 · Josephus who was also a Jew sucked up to 8:18 · the Romans and praised his ariane's 8:20 · Harbor however it was this Harbor that 8:22 · brought the destruction of his own 8:23 · people as it would have been the key 8:25 · entry point into Judea for the Roman 8:27 · military used for shipping in troops 8:29 · logistical support for the war and 8:31 · receiving orders from Rome 8:34 · this war resulted in the utter defeated 8:36 · Jews by the Roman War Machine the 8:38 · sacking of Jerusalem and destruction of 8:40 · their temple in 70 A.D 8:42 · and the deportation of much of their 8:43 · population to the rest of the empire 8:47 · the Coliseum itself was most likely 8:49 · funded with The Spoils of that war as it 8:51 · was built right after it 8:53 · it was also likely constructed by Jewish 8:55 · slaves brought over to Rome as captives 8:58 · this was such a cataclysmic event for 9:00 · the Jews the modern history of the 9:02 · region is still being shaped by it two 9:04 · thousand years later 9:06 · [Music] 9:12 · in the first century when Christianity 9:15 · was spreading out from the holy land 9:16 · caesarea's port again became a key 9:18 · instrument in serving that wave of 9:20 · History 9:21 · it was that well-established Trade 9:23 · Network that existed in the 9:24 · Mediterranean under the Romans that 9:26 · facilitated the fast bread of goods and 9:27 · ideas and with it the new ideas of 9:30 · Christianity Saint Paul himself left on 9:33 · his famous voyages across the Empire 9:34 · from this very port 9:37 · Saint Peter also came through this city 9:40 · historically it's always been Urban 9:41 · centers especially port cities that have 9:44 · been the key players in transmitting new 9:45 · ideas and new trends of History 9:49 · this is because they were the most 9:50 · connected to the outside world and 9:53 · influences from other port cities as 9:55 · well as having the highest population 9:56 · densities 9:57 · more people living together and talking 9:59 · to one another means that an idea can 10:01 · spread faster and Christianity was no 10:03 · exception 10:05 · it was the key Urban centers of the 10:07 · Roman Empire the first received 10:09 · Christianity as well as other ancient 10:11 · religions that came from outside Rome 10:12 · like mithraism 10:14 · to illustrate this The Great Fire of 10:17 · Romans 64 A.D which Nero allegedly 10:19 · started and then blamed on the 10:20 · Christians was only three decades after 10:22 · the death of Jesus 10:24 · this means that just 30 years after 10:26 · there were already enough Christians in 10:28 · Rome that they were a well-known 10:29 · minority used the scapegoats for the 10:31 · fire 10:34 · things took time in the ancient world so 10:36 · for them to be this numerous by the time 10:37 · of Nero means that the very first ones 10:39 · must have arrived in Rome just a few 10:41 · years after 10:43 · and they would have left from caesarea 10:44 · and traveled on that well-connected 10:46 · trade Network which enabled Christianity 10:48 · to spread quickly between all the 10:50 · different ports 10:53 · in fact the term Pagan which today means 10:56 · the worship of many gods back then just 10:58 · meant in Latin a person living in the 11:00 · countryside 11:02 · what this tells me is that when 11:04 · Christianity must have already been well 11:05 · established and replacing the old Roman 11:07 · religion those who still continued 11:09 · worshiping the old Roman gods were the 11:11 · folks living in the countryside pagans 11:13 · further indication that it was the 11:15 · cities and ports that were spearheading 11:17 · the spread of Christianity in the early 11:19 · stages 11:20 · [Music] 11:22 · but back to our own beloved Port it did 11:24 · not fare so well the test of time 11:28 · archaeological analysis of the submerged 11:30 · concrete indicates that it wasn't 11:32 · actually the best quality compared with 11:34 · other Roman Harbors in Italy 11:36 · so though ambitious the harbor was a 11:39 · little on the weak side 11:44 · then in 115 A.D something big happened 11:47 · to the north this is the Turkish city of 11:50 · antakia 11:51 · sits on an intersection of multiple 11:53 · fault lines and has suffered from 11:55 · earthquakes throughout all its history 11:56 · it was one of the hardest hit cities in 11:59 · the last massive earthquake in February 12:00 · 2023 12:03 · which devastated Southeast turkey and 12:05 · Northwest Syria 12:07 · in Roman times antakya was called 12:09 · Antioch one of the largest and most 12:11 · important cities in the Empire 12:13 · and the same thing happened in the year 12:15 · 115 12:17 · a massive earthquake so devastating the 12:20 · historians speculate a quarter million 12:22 · people died 12:23 · half the City's population 12:26 · the earthquake triggered a tsunami that 12:28 · traveled all the way down the coast and 12:30 · is known to have hit the harbor at 12:31 · caesarea 12:33 · it probably didn't destroy completely 12:35 · but would have seriously damaged it and 12:37 · remember that its concrete was not the 12:39 · strongest to begin with and so this 12:40 · tsunami was the beginning of the end for 12:43 · our beloved Harbor 12:45 · they must have remained usable for some 12:46 · time though because in later centuries 12:48 · caesarea became an important Byzantine 12:50 · City so surely would have had an 12:52 · operational Port even if not as glorious 12:55 · but by the 5th Century further local 12:57 · seismic activity and the Relentless 12:59 · waves of that exposed Coastline 808 the 13:02 · weaken structure and the Jetties were 13:04 · well on their way to the bottom 13:07 · when the Crusaders conquered the Holy 13:09 · Land in 1100 they needed courts along 13:12 · that Coastline they recognized the 13:14 · Strategic value of this place so they 13:16 · rehabilitated the harbor albeit a 13:17 · smaller version of it the modern Jetties 13:19 · that you see today correspond somewhat 13:21 · to the smaller Crusader Harbor 13:24 · but after that wacky Endeavor came to an 13:26 · end 13:27 · and the monks kicked the Crusaders out 13:29 · for good caesarea basically died as a 13:31 · significant Port City and the site 13:33 · slowly became a ruin 13:36 · one that you can enjoy today if you go 13:38 · visit Israel 13:39 · a well-preserved Roman city that lived 13:42 · through the turbulent events of history 13:43 · and under the numerous cultures that 13:46 · have controlled this fascinating region
Despite countless wars across Europe over the millennia, many ancient Roman structures still stand proudly. Some are in the sort of condition you would expect of a 2,000-year-old building, perhaps with little remaining but a foundation. Others, however, remain in remarkable condition.Some of the World's Most Incredible Ancient Roman Ruins | 12:08
Sideprojects | 701K subscribers | 310,602 views | October 11, 2022
Been there - pretty cool place.
(We were on our way up to an Aussie bar in Haifa - should have stayed in Caesarea).
My wife & I were there last Tuesday. To stand in the exact spot where Paul made his defense to Herod Agrippa and Festus was such an eye opener.
In addition to Caesarea, he also re-built the 2nd Temple, which stood less than 100 years before his Roman masters destroyed it and genocided the Jews of Judea. He also built Masada, where Jewish rebels against Rome made their last stand; and the fortress of Herodium, in the Judean desert (below).
And the enclosure over the Cave of the Patriarchs, still in remarkably good condition.
https://hebronfund.org/cave-machpelah-overview/
Sounds great!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.